gaze shifted to the ceiling. “You can take it however you want if you go with me.”
“Jude.” I rolled my eyes.
He knew he was wearing me down and at this stage, I was another cockeyed smile away from caving. He took this knowledge to his advantage.
Pressing himself against me, his hand found my hip. Backing me up against the wall of lockers, his other hand wandered up my arm until it molded around my neck. I went from being a young, marginally innocent girl who liked to dance to a woman with a one track mind. My whole body ached and, when his lips just brushed over mine, it felt like the ache was about to explode.
“Go with me,” he whispered, sucking at my lower lip.
He could have been asking me for my spleen and I would have agreed just as fast. “Okay.” I nodded, sounding as shaky as I felt.
Leaning back, his face was victorious. “So that’s a yes?”
“Jude,” I said in between trying to catch my breath, “that was a hell yes.”
Brushing a quick kiss into my cheek, he headed out into the hall. “It will be one hell of a night, Luce. I’m glad I’ll get to spend it with you.”
Homecoming with Jude Ryder.
There was so much wrong with that, it had to be right.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The rest of the week went surprisingly smooth and a daily pattern emerged. I got to school, Jude was waiting for me. I walked through the metal detectors, Jude walked me to class. I tried to make elementary coursework somewhat stimulating during class, and Jude made the five minutes walking between class over stimulating. I ate lunch with Taylor and her friends after she’d showered me with a hundred and one apologies and excuses, but my attention was focused on Jude, who sometimes spoke more in his silence than through his words.
He hadn’t tried to kiss me again, but I could feel when he wanted to, and I pretty much always wanted to, but he seemed insistent about keeping some distance between us. I wasn’t sure if this was just a show for Southpointe or if he’d decided I was more friend than girlfriend material. I would take Jude whatever way I could have him, but I’d prefer the option where I could kiss him whenever I wanted to.
“Can you believe this weather?” Jude greeted me, after nudging the student next to me off the bleachers. Looking at me, his eyes amplified before he suddenly looked away.
“No,” I chattered. “Could someone please tell the weather it’s still summer?” The rain had started first, then the wind, and then the fifty degree temperatures. In this part of the country, fifty was like below zero.
The crowd roared in anger abruptly, throwing popcorn and empty drink containers at the football field. It was Southpointe’s homecoming game and to say we were losing would be an insult to losers everywhere. We weren’t even on the scoreboard yet and the opposing team’s side of the reader board read forty-two points. And it was only the beginning on the second quarter.
“This sprinkle?” Jude said, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me against him. For some reason, warmth tingled down every part of me. “This is fine weather.”
I glanced up long enough to shoot him a quick glare. “Says the man who doesn’t own a garment unless it’s gray.”
“Are you implying something, Luce?” he asked, rubbing my arm hard.
“Who me?” I fluttered my eyelashes in innocence. “But why gray? Why not black? Isn’t that more your scene—more I-could-kick-your-ass-into-next-week?”
He bit his lip, trying not to laugh most likely. “Black absorbs all color, accepts them, takes them into it and let them define it. Gray isn’t anything but itself. It absorbs nothing but itself.”
This was clearly something he’d thought about. He didn’t wear gray because it was his favorite color; he wore it for a deep seeded philosophical reason. As I’d discovered this week, Jude was every kind of mystery that appealed to a woman and every kind she could never unveil. He was
“Jude.” I rolled my eyes.
He knew he was wearing me down and at this stage, I was another cockeyed smile away from caving. He took this knowledge to his advantage.
Pressing himself against me, his hand found my hip. Backing me up against the wall of lockers, his other hand wandered up my arm until it molded around my neck. I went from being a young, marginally innocent girl who liked to dance to a woman with a one track mind. My whole body ached and, when his lips just brushed over mine, it felt like the ache was about to explode.
“Go with me,” he whispered, sucking at my lower lip.
He could have been asking me for my spleen and I would have agreed just as fast. “Okay.” I nodded, sounding as shaky as I felt.
Leaning back, his face was victorious. “So that’s a yes?”
“Jude,” I said in between trying to catch my breath, “that was a hell yes.”
Brushing a quick kiss into my cheek, he headed out into the hall. “It will be one hell of a night, Luce. I’m glad I’ll get to spend it with you.”
Homecoming with Jude Ryder.
There was so much wrong with that, it had to be right.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The rest of the week went surprisingly smooth and a daily pattern emerged. I got to school, Jude was waiting for me. I walked through the metal detectors, Jude walked me to class. I tried to make elementary coursework somewhat stimulating during class, and Jude made the five minutes walking between class over stimulating. I ate lunch with Taylor and her friends after she’d showered me with a hundred and one apologies and excuses, but my attention was focused on Jude, who sometimes spoke more in his silence than through his words.
He hadn’t tried to kiss me again, but I could feel when he wanted to, and I pretty much always wanted to, but he seemed insistent about keeping some distance between us. I wasn’t sure if this was just a show for Southpointe or if he’d decided I was more friend than girlfriend material. I would take Jude whatever way I could have him, but I’d prefer the option where I could kiss him whenever I wanted to.
“Can you believe this weather?” Jude greeted me, after nudging the student next to me off the bleachers. Looking at me, his eyes amplified before he suddenly looked away.
“No,” I chattered. “Could someone please tell the weather it’s still summer?” The rain had started first, then the wind, and then the fifty degree temperatures. In this part of the country, fifty was like below zero.
The crowd roared in anger abruptly, throwing popcorn and empty drink containers at the football field. It was Southpointe’s homecoming game and to say we were losing would be an insult to losers everywhere. We weren’t even on the scoreboard yet and the opposing team’s side of the reader board read forty-two points. And it was only the beginning on the second quarter.
“This sprinkle?” Jude said, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me against him. For some reason, warmth tingled down every part of me. “This is fine weather.”
I glanced up long enough to shoot him a quick glare. “Says the man who doesn’t own a garment unless it’s gray.”
“Are you implying something, Luce?” he asked, rubbing my arm hard.
“Who me?” I fluttered my eyelashes in innocence. “But why gray? Why not black? Isn’t that more your scene—more I-could-kick-your-ass-into-next-week?”
He bit his lip, trying not to laugh most likely. “Black absorbs all color, accepts them, takes them into it and let them define it. Gray isn’t anything but itself. It absorbs nothing but itself.”
This was clearly something he’d thought about. He didn’t wear gray because it was his favorite color; he wore it for a deep seeded philosophical reason. As I’d discovered this week, Jude was every kind of mystery that appealed to a woman and every kind she could never unveil. He was
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